Two young men have been charged in the theft of two vehicles from an Elkins car dealership. Both vehicles were recovered, but one was totaled due to severe fire damage, police said.
James Dean Grover Jr., 19, of Elkins, was charged with breaking and entering and two counts of grand larceny, all felonies. Bond was set in Randolph County Magistrate Court at $75,000 cash or surety.
Clinton Dale McCauley, 21, of Elkins, was charged with breaking and entering, grand larceny, arson and destruction of property, all felonies. Bond was set at $50,000.
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Grover
According to the criminal complaint, filed by Trooper M.J. Wilson of the West Virginia State Police, police received a call at 9:56 a.m. on May 26 about a vehicle stolen from Miller's Auto Sales in Elkins.
Investigation showed that the front door of the dealership had been pryed open, and the box containing the keys to the lot's vehicles was left open, according to the complaint.
A maroon 2008 Ford Edge, worth $18,000, was missing from the lot, and a white 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt on the lot showed damage to the front bumper and a rear tire, the complaint states.
Troopers took partial fingerprints from the Cobalt, which were later found to match the prints of McCauley, police said. Troopers later found the Ford Edge along Rich Mountain, near Beverly, and reported that it had sustained severe fire damage in the passenger compartment, according to the complaint.
Officers interviewed McCauley, who said that he, Grover and another man took the Cobalt from the dealership lot, then ran it into a ditch along Evans Road, causing a flat tire, police said.
McCauley said the three men took the Cobalt back to the lot and then took the Edge, according to the complaint.
McCauley was arrested in June for allegedly stealing two other cars.
He was charged with two felony counts of grand larceny. His bond on those charges was set at $75,000 cash or surety.
According to the criminal complaint, two vehicles, a gold 2004 Buick Century and a black 1995 Jeep Wrangler, were reported stolen from Autocrafters on June 6. The vehicles were valued at $8,000 each.
The vehicles were recovered by the West Virginia State Police and the Randolph County Sheriff's Department, one by St. Brendan Catholic Church and one in the Elkins Wal-Mart parking lot, according to the complaint.
